The origin of College of Architecture stems from both the Department of Architecture at the Northeast University and the Architecture Section of the South Jiangsu Technical School . The Department of Architecture at Northeast University was established by Mr. Liang Sicheng in 1928, and the Architecture Section of South Jiangsu Technical School was established in 1923 by Mr. Liu Shiying and Mr. Liu Dunzhen, who were the pioneers in modern architecture education in China. In 1956, during the third nation-wide restructuring of universities and colleges, the College of Architecture was established as a merger of the two departments.

There are three undergraduate programs: architecture, urban planning, and landscape, among which urban planning is designated as the national specialty . The specialty of architecture passed the national evaluation with excellent results in 1994, 2000, and 2006 respectively. The specialty of urban planning passed the national evaluation with excellent results in 2000 and 2006 respectively.

Of the three disciplines, architecture and urban planning are first-level disciplines. The following seven specialties, namely architecture design and theory, architectural history and theory, architecture science and technology, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, the culture of architecture, and digital architecture, are authorized to grant both master's and doctoral degrees and have mobile stations for the post-doctorate academics . More importantly, the discipline of architecture design and theory is the national key-discipline, and disciplines of architectural history and theory, architecture science and technology, urban planning and designing are provincial key-disciplines. The College of Architecture is the only school which has the right to grant bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and which has the post-doctorate program in architecture, urban planning and landscape in Northwest China.

At present, there are 212 staff members in the school, among which 171 are teachers. 23 of them are professors and 50 of them are associate professors. There are 921 undergraduates and over 900 post-graduates. The school has 9 subsidiary institutes together with an innovative national research team for architectural environment and energy consumption control theory in West China , a key lab for architecture technology in West China, and the Shaanxi Research Center of Monuments and Sites Reservation Engineering and Technology. The school maintains the leading position in the following areas of research: human settlement in vulnerable areas in West China, human settlement of underprivileged people, and cultural heritage preservation. The school is the home of the China Architectural and Cultural Heritage Institute, the host of UIA 2010 International Symposium On the Conservation of Architectural Heritage, and a major technical supporting unit for the ICOMOS Xi'an Center.

Adhering to the opening-up policy, the school has established cooperative and exchange relationships with universities in the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Australia, and Hong Kong, etc. Professors from world famous universities, such as Harvard University in the US and Dresden University of Technology and Weimar University in Germany, are invited as adjunct professors , Meanwhile, teachers and students are frequently sent to overseas universities and institutes for academic visits.